Authored by Brian Tonetti

Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, & Parks funding will host 25 watershed walks in Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, and West Valley City through the Seven Creeks | Walk Series. Programming will lay the foundation for youth to become community leaders.

Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts, & Parks Program granted $4,000 for 25 watershed walks with students and residents in the low-income, highly-diverse neighborhoods of Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, and West Valley City through the Seven Creeks | Walk Series. By inviting youth to become involved, seeds of attachment and a sense of ownership will be created. Programming will lay the foundation for youth to become community leaders to fight for natural spaces, public health, and environmental justice.

Through the Seven Creeks | Walk Series’ watershed-based education curriculum, participants will learn about the significance of riparian corridors to regional water quality. Curricula will focus on individual impacts to watershed-scale issues. Participants will learn easy, low- or no-cost solutions and behavioral change to prevent the spread of invasive weeds and reduce water pollution, such as eliminating fertilizer use at home. Participants will learn native plant identification skills and its value to migratory birds and local wildlife. Walks will get youth and families outdoors in healthy activity. Meaningful, on-the-ground restoration work, including invasive plant removal, native habitat plantings, and trash clean-ups, will ingrain concepts.